Hi,
My dream to live and work in Japan may come true. Let me give you a quick overview of my background. I’m from Germany and I spent a year in Japan as a student at a Japanese university (on an exchange programme) and also worked part-time in a Japanese IT company as a software engineer (on a student visa). I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t want to go back to Germany… life there was great..
I came back to Germany in March to finish my Master's Degree in CS and started a full-time job at a German company. My current salary is around €58.000 a year (which is pretty ok for new graduates with a masters degree). Taxes are pretty high in Germany, so from the 5k gross, I get around 2.7k euros net per month, which is great.
Since I came back to Germany, I've applied to lots of companies in Japan (probably over 100) as a software engineer but haven't had any luck. Tried Daijob, TokyoDev, Gittap and also LinkedIn where I had nice recruiters who helped me with preparation and interviews. In 90% I get rejected.
Usually, it's because of:
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lack of experience (even though I have been working since 2020 as a software engineer intern / part timer for several German companies but these experiences are not valued in Japan)
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lack of Japanese skills (have N3 but can handle Japanese interview and use Japanese at work),
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my age (I started studying later, because I worked in another field after high school, which is no problem here in Germany, but for Japanese age it matters, I am already 31 and considered as old in Japan… working holiday is also not possible).
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I‘m not living in Japan (I realize applying from overseas is so difficult)
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failed a SPI test lol?
I had about a dozen interviews in Japanese and finally found one that accepted me and can sponsor my visa. (Found on Wantedly)
I'm happy but also a bit unsure…
The annual salary is around 3.5 million yen, working 40 hours a week (I currently work 35 hours a week).
Other than that, it seems to be nice I think. The good points are:
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50% of the employees are foreign, the project is great and the office is modern. But I earn three times more now (but taxes are higher in Germany, but I would still have twice as much net)
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Taxes and living costs (especially eat out) are lower than where I live in South Germany.
So I'm struggling now. I really want to work and live in Japan.
Negative points are:
- massive downgrade of salary
- longer working time
- have to go to the office every day from 9:30 – 18:30 (currently I have flex time and go twice a week to the office)
- I don’t know how many paid vacation I have, but in Germany I have 30)
The company is in Tokyo.
What would you do in my case? Give it a try?
It is my dream to go there.. I have lived there before and liked it a lot..
Is 3.5 mio yen enough to live on? (My desired salary is at least 5 mio yen) it's way below what I was expecting. Should I just get the visa sponsorship and try for 6 months?
Also if I accept the offer and get a visa for let‘s say 5 years. Is the visa still valid if I quit my job?
In Germany if someone with a working visa quits his job, his visa get invalid too. Is there such a rule in Japan?
by zerato2412